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The Russian-Ukraine war demonstrates there is a pivotal moment in international relations, and this period accounts for the decline of the western liberal hegemonic dominance.
After the break of the the Berlin wall, the Collective West dominated the world, pushing for liberal democracy, changing regimes and institutions. It sanctioned those who didn’t not want to conform to liberal hegemonic tenets.
The conflict in Ukraine, which started by the Russian invasion on February 24, is, therefore, a game changer.
However, the Collective West is still stuck in its ideological dominance — liberal hegemony — what Francis Fukuyama called the end of history, and Samuel Huntington referred to as democratization of the world.
It continues to push for United States-led institutions, alliances and democratisation culture.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s administration looking towards the Collective West is costly to the Ukrainian people, and it led to the shrinking Ukraine, having lost Crimea in 2014 and the Donbas region in Russian invasion two months ago.
An essential question would be, whose democracy, institutions, or regime are we talking about?
Furthermore, democracy is good for internal function of the state because it is easy to account for. However, making it a foreign policy decision and pushing for democratisation outside the borders is costly, tedious and chaotic.
The Collective West has been trying to democratise the world, and it has failed, leading to fragility of states. For example, the US invasion in Iraq, with the notion to remove Saddam Hussein from power led to Iraqi as a failed state and increased further terrorism and proxy wars in the country and region.
The US withdrawal from Iraq in 2011 led to al Qaeda occupation of Sunni-dominated area in 2012, and later the Islamic States in Syria and Iraq domination in 2014.
Additionally, the Iranian religious and economic support of al-Hashd al-Sha’bi coalition— the popular mobilizing unit (PMU) and other Shiite Badr militia that defeated ISIS is a rebellion from the Collective West’s action in Iraq. Turkish occupation in northern Iraq, claiming to fight the Kurdish militant and secessionists organization—the PKK, are further results of US-led liberalisation and ending terrorism in the world.
As such, the attempt to democratise Iraq led to a chaotic country with different proxy wars within the Middle Eastern region. Today, there is a regional power struggle between Iran and Saudi Arabia, creating further tension and war.
The Tehran administration support of the Houthi rebels in Yemen, and the Saudi Arabia support of the Yemeni government led by president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was later killed by the Houthi, is a cost that came with his regime’s support of the Collective West.
Somalia is also a good example of the western interference and democratisation, which fueled clannism and warlordism, eroding nationalism. It led to the fragility and failure of the Horn of Africa country.
After Ethiopia became an ally of the Soviet Union in 1974,Somalia President Said Barre turned to the support of the Collective West in 1977, despite being an ally of the Soviet Union.
In the 1980s, the Jimmy Carter administration supported the Barre regime with military aid worth $800 million. However, the fall of the Berlin wall or the end of the Cold War led to the Collective West led by the US dismissing Barre, and claiming his regime as authoritarian. The response was supporting democratisation in Somalia.
As such, the Somalia fragility began in 1991 — the dawn of democratisation and liberalisation hegemony of the Collective West, leading to civil war, clan wars and politics and the creation of groups such as aI-Itihaad al-Islamiya.
Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden took advantage to support the AIAI religiously and economically. The AIAI later dissolved and its leaders joined the Islamic Court Union, which later was dominated by the radicals or youth wing member who developed to al Shabaab. The violent extremist organisation has been a threat to the Horn of Africa since 2006.
There has been many al Shabaab attacks in Somalia, Kenya and Uganda. The most documented ones are the 2010 Kampala bombing killing 74, the 2013 Westgate attack in Nairobi killing 67, the 2014 Mpeketoni attacks in Lamu claiming 48, the November and December 2014 Mandera attacks killing 28 and 36 respectively and the 2015 Garissa University attack where 148 were murdered.
There was also the 2017 Mogadishu truck bombing—512, and Mogadishu hotel siege—14, the 2019 Mogadishu truck bombing that killed 82, the 2019 Nairobi DusitD2 complex attack that claimed 21 and recently al-Shabaab presence in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique.
All these attacks are linked to the radical group’s rebellion of the Collective West’s liberal hegemony.
The United States recently tried to influence and interfere in the 2021 Somalia elections, and this was done even after the withdrawal of its military in Somalia.
On April 18, al Shabaab attacked the Somalia parliament as the parliamentary elections were underway.
The attack is a protest against US-liberal hegemonic tendences in Somalia. Differently, in the Ethiopian civil war between the Aby regime battling with the Tigrayans, the Ukraine-Russian conflict has silenced the Collective West focus onAddis Ababa, as the Prime Minister continues to gain milestone against Tigray.
The examples above demonstrate the price of international liberal hegemony. The US claim to be a benevolent hegemony with their democratization narrative, claiming to fight for international public goods such as human rights and freedom of speech.
However, such claim is hogwash because it only stipulates the interests of the Collective West. Its banning of the Russian media propaganda such as Russia Today in their territory while continuing to sell western propaganda on Fox News, CNN, BBC and DW is an indication of such international liberal hegemonic hogwash.
The us is persuading others parties at the international arena to engage with the Collective West. However, such persuasion is declining, as the US foreign policy finds it hard to persuade countries such as China, Russia, Brazil, India and Iran. This leads the US foreign policy to blackmail deviant countries, issue threats and sanctions.
Furthermore, such threats and sanctions lead to de-dollarisation of the international political economy, and the sanction and freezing of Russian oligarchs’ assets in the West is only doing well to the Russian economy because it leads to capital flight of these oligarchs back to Russia.
Additionally, it is a warning to other investors around the world that their assets can be frozen, if their countries got into conflict with the Collective West. Therefore, international liberal hegemony and authoritarianism resembles Tweedledee and Tweedledum.
The consolidation between the Western hemisphere is one of the essential issues in international relations today.
The Collective West consolidates and isolates itself from the majority of the countries around the world, and uses sanctions as a threat in the international system.
Consolidations such as Brazil, Russia, India and China and South Africa (BRICS), the G-77 countries and the South-South relations have been seen by the West as a challenge to the western hemisphere consolidation.
These consolidations demonstrate the international system is moving towards a much greater pluralism, and the Russian move in Ukraine paints such pluralistic system.
Therefore, today a reverse of Fukuyama’s end of history is true, the end of western liberal hegemony has emerged and the beginning of a multi-polar world is in its dawn.
The US continues to be a great power in the world but such power is limited to some states in the western hemisphere. The Collective West remains dominant in the international narrative making, thus lead in shaping beliefs through their communication power internationally.
The Russian-Ukraine war has demonstrated such dominance, where the west sends information of war against Russia, demonstrating information power is still dominant in the West.
Any country that does not want to accept or agree with the narrative, wants to remain neutral or does not support the Collective West towards the Russian-Ukraine war. BY THE STAR